Campaigns with large geographical diversity and for a wide range of brands, including IHOP, KFC, Lifebuoy, Toyota, UNIQLO, and Virgin Trains, are among the winners of the Best Use of Data category of WARC's global Media Awards 2018, recognising communications planning which has made a positive impact on business results.

Twelve winners - One Grand Prix, four Golds, three Silvers and four Bronzes - have been awarded in the Best Use of Data category, recognising the role of data in an effective communications strategy.

The jury, chaired by Nicole Kane, VP of Media & Performance, Epsilon, also awarded three Special Awards for particular areas of expertise: Personalisation Award for the best example of a campaign that used data to segment effectively; Attribution Award for the best example of a channel attribution model; and Data-Driven Insight Award for a campaign where data helped to identify the right audience at scale.

Lifebuoy continued to face problems reaching rural consumers, working with the challenges of low literacy rates and low traditional media penetration. The brand created an infection warning system by crunching government data to predict outbreaks, and then targeted marketing on a micro-local level to spread awareness of the importance of hand hygiene. As a result, Lifebuoy increased its rural brand metrics, penetration and sales, and helped to reduce infection rates.

Commenting on the Grand Prix winning campaign, Ian Forrester, SVP, Research & Analytics at Whalar, said: "It was a lovely story. There is a lot of social value around what they're doing and it's a complex model that was implemented by calling people up on the phone, which is what you need to do India. That was a nice mix of old and new."

The full winners list of WARC's Media Awards 2018 -- Best Use of Data is: